Thanks for the report, Raina Sadly, it's the same story every year: no American, ratings go down. Not even Federer can save tennis in the US.

U.S. OPEN NOTES: The 4.2/8 for CBS' coverage of the U.S. Open men's finals, which saw Roger Federer defeat Novak Djokovic for his fourth straight title, is down 17.6% from last year's Federer-Andy Roddick final match, which earned a 5.1/10 overnight.

On Saturday night, the 2.6/5 for Justine Henin's victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women's finals, is down 18.8% from a 3.2/6 for the Henin-Maria Sharapova final from '06.

Earlier on Saturday, CBS earned a 1.8/5 overnight rating for the Djokovic-Ferrer semifinal, down 5.3% from the time slot in '06, and a 2.1/5 for the Federer-Davydenko semifinal, a re-match of the '06 finals, down 19.2% from the time slot last year.

On Friday, the Henin-Venus Williams semifinal from 4:00-6:15pm earned a 2.4/6 overnight on CBS, up 20%, while the Kuznetsova-Chakvetadze semifnal earned a 1.6/5, down 11.1%.

Earlier on Friday, the men's doubles finals earned a 1.8/6 overnight rating on CBS from 12:30-2:00pm, up 38.5% from a 1.3/5 last year.

I wonder if his match against Roger this year rated better than the final even if it was week day.

Andy's QF with Roger did extremely well for USA Network, even though it was a weeknight match:

From SBD:

Quote:

The Andy Roddick-Roger Federer U.S. Open quarterfinal match proved to be a big draw on TV, earning a 2.23 final Nielsen rating on USA Network, up 42.9% from a 1.56 for the comparable Wednesday night window on USA Network last year.

The following presents a ratings trend for men's and women's finals of the U.S. Open on CBS.

Other USO news:

Quote:

Service With A Smile: U.S. Open Sets All-Time Attendance Record

The U.S. Open reported a total attendance of 721,241, up from 640,000 last year and a previous record 659,538 in 2005.

CBS' Dick Enberg said, "A special two weeks it has been. Record crowds -- the attendance this afternoon set a new US Open attendance record."

USTA Chair & President Jane Brown Grimes said, "This has been an amazing two weeks of tennis" (CBS, 9/9).

In N.Y., John Jeansonne writes the event was “simultaneously global, with stars from more than 30 nations, and thoroughly American -- a raucous bright-lights, big-city deal with a jet flyover for the finals, boldface names seeing and being seen at Arthur Ashe Stadium.” The event’s claim of an annual $425M in economic impact on N.Y. is “more than the Mets, Yankees, Knicks and Rangers combined” (NEWSDAY, 9/10).

In Miami, Michelle Kaufman writes, “Anyone who thinks today’s game lacks personalities wasn’t paying attention to the U.S. Open the past two weeks. Either that, or the sport is doing a very poor job of marketing its stars.” Kaufman cites winners Roger Federer and Justine Henin, along with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Jelena Jankovic, as compelling personalities (MIAMI HERALD, 9/10).

Novak Djokovic Emerges as the Star of the 2007 USO

NO DJOKE: In S.F., Bruce Jenkins wrote Djokovic “has captured the public’s imagination in ways that Andy Roddick, or even James Blake, could not imagine” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/8).

In N.Y., Filip Bondy wrote, “There is such a paucity of personality on the men’s tour these days that the affable Djokovic has been embraced as something of a class clown instead of the next great men’s champion” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/9).

In L.A., Bill Dwyre noted tennis is “a sport that thrives on personality. Which is what the world still watching in the late hours of Thursday night discovered in Djokovic. … Win or lose, a booking on Leno is forthcoming” (L.A. TIMES, 9/8).

Thanks Raina. Shame on the decline for both men and women's final. Andy did not play that great in last year's final but he took a set of Roger. I wonder if his match against Roger this year rated better than the final even if it was week day.

Does anyone know the TV ratings for the Roger-Andy match? Or for the final?

U.S. Open TV ratings drop for men's, women's finals over 2006

September 10, 2007

NEW YORK (AP) -- The overnight TV ratings for both U.S. Open singles finals dropped from last year.

The men's final, in which Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic, drew a 4.2 overnight rating on CBS on Sunday, down from a 5.1 for Federer against Andy Roddick in 2006.

The women's final, in which Justine Henin defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova, got a 2.6 overnight rating on CBS on Saturday night. That's a decline from the 3.2 CBS got in 2006, when Henin lost to Maria Sharapova.

The overnight ratings measure the 55 biggest television markets, covering about 70 percent of the country.

darn it we all want to know what Maria was doing in Noly's box we need more scandal than Andy and Maria which is still really old news. Yeah sigh another boring final which I managed to miss I hope that Roger takes the rest of the year off now wouldn't that be a gift????

This made me giggle because i actually imagined all dressed up in Star Wars garb

It's a shame the final was done in straight sets, but Nole looked (and played) extremely nervous(ly). It won't be like that forever, is the one positive i took from the final. It's the kind of comfort you can't take from a Federer/Andy match

Djokovic is a real contender to take it to Federer and he knows it. It makes for an interesting 2008 season (:

Maybe when he beats Sampras slam record (next year!) he will stop entering tournaments. This final was quite boring. The speech was boring.

In my head that's all I want from him. After her gets to 15 I kind of want someone to come along and beat him at the AO or USO.

I am a Roger fan though. I know most here aren't. I enjoy watching him make history. I know I'll never see it again in my lifetime. I'm trying not to take the things he does for granted because he is getting older.